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PvP in World of Warcraft is often alluring to many of you for the challenge it brings. Unlike the thought-out planning and strategy that’s at the core of raiding and Mythic+ dungeons, PvP requires you to switch tactics on the fly and know every aspect of your class to succeed.
In terms of raw damage output, there are few classes more formidable than Fire Mage in PvP. Through instant procs of your abilities and several talents that chunk enemy players for percentages of their total health, you’ll bring the heat to the battlefield and leave the competition in cinders. If you’re thinking about trying this devastating class, here’s everything you need to know.
Getting Started
The Fire Mage is the very epitome of a glass cannon. Though you may be one of the squishier classes, with a less-than-ideal health pool, you’ll more than make up for it by topping the damage charts.
On top of this, the abilities in your utility kit are fantastic ways of escaping tricky situations. You’ll leave your enemies dazed and frozen in place as you teleport across the arena and set them ablaze from afar.
Race
Race | Racial Abilities |
|---|---|
Human | Boost to secondary stats, can break out of stunning effects. |
Dwarf | Increased Critical Strike effect, takes less damage. |
Draenei | Potent self-heal, boost to primary stat. |
Worgen | The ability to move more quickly, increased Critical Strike chance. |
Tauren | Increased Critical Strike effect, more health. |
Nightborne | Boost to magical damage, can snare opponents. |
Dragonflight introduced the ability for any race to be a Mage, and so you can pick your favorite race and still dominate the battlefield. However, some choices stand out among the rest due to how well their racials blend with the playstyle of a Fire Mage.
- As Fire Mages have low health and few recovery options, a Draenei is a phenomenal choice solely because of their very strong heal, Gift of the Naaru. In addition, their flat increase to Intellect is a welcome boon.
- Humans are another good pick because of their increase to Critical Strike, a Fire Mage’s best friend.
- Worgens and their passive ability to proc crits more often are exactly what’s needed in a Fire Mage’s toolkit, and their ability to move quickly to escape can be used to great effect.
- Dwarves and Tauren both hit harder when they crit. They can take less damage via Stoneform or have more health with a buff to Stamina, respectively.
- Nightborne are a popular choice because of their added magical damage, making any spellcasting Nightborne a force to be reckoned with.
Stat Priority
Your primary stat as a Fire Mage will be Intellect, just as it is with any other spellcaster. No matter what secondary stats you choose to specialize in, be on the lookout for increasing your Intellect above all else to vastly improve your damage output.
After this, a Fire Mage should always be thinking about increasing their Critical Strike. Not only do several abilities revolve around critical chance, but there are more than a few talents that transform your Critical Strike stat into other stats as well. Along with this, search for Mastery to increase your damage-over-time output from burns, and Versatility to increase your damage in general.
Gearing Up For PvP
Once you’ve reached max level on your Fire Mage, you’ll want to do some gearing to increase your Item Level before jumping into PvP. If you don’t, you’ll begin to struggle against your opponents, and you may yourself with more losses than wins.
Luckily, there are several easy ways to obtain a higher Item Level. First, complete every World Quest around the Dragon Isles that may reward you with gear. These scale according to your current Item Level and often hand out better upgrades, though keep in mind that you cannot farm them due to their infrequent spawn timers.
Ultimately, you’ll want PvP-specific gear. While these pieces are outclassed by others when it comes to world and PvE content, they will significantly increase your PvP Item Level in battlegrounds and arenas. You can find these sets in the Gladiator’s Refuge in Valdrakken, where they’re sold by Seltherex and Calderax for Honor and Conquest, respectively.
Honor and Conquest are both currencies that are earned simply by PvPing. Honor is the more common currency from Skirmishes and random Battlegrounds, and can buy you decent gear to start off with, while Conquest comes from rated PvP and is used to buy the higher-end pieces.
While you’re shopping around with the vendors, you’ll see two sets of PvP gear; one gives more Haste and Versatility while the other grants Critical Strike and Versatility. Purchase the second set to benefit from the Critical Strike and watch your damage skyrocket.
Gems And Enchants
After your gear has been chosen, you can enhance your stats even further by enchanting and socketing the right kinds of gems. You should prioritize boosts to Intellect, Critical Strike, Versatility, and Mastery.
Fire Mage PvP Talent Tree
Playing a Fire Mage revolves around colossal damage with instant procs via crits. With this in mind, your Fire talents should be set up to account for guaranteed crits and greater damage from Pyroblast, while your general Mage tree gives you more room for utility spells like Frost Nova.
- Pyrokinesis is a must-have for your PvP-specific talents since it reduces the cooldown of Combustion, your source of a lot of burst damage.
- Ring of Fire does well in Arenas, but it’s even better in Battlegrounds, chunking enemy players for a quarter of their total health whenever they get too close to the ring.
- Precognition is often popular among Mages due to the temporary Haste buff and interrupt immunity gained when someone is too early or too late when trying to interrupt your spells.
Fire Mage Rotation
Whenever you land a crit as a Fire Mage, you’ll gain one stack of Hot Streak. Two successive crits will grant you an instant cast of Pyroblast with increased damage. You’ll want to constantly seek these instant casts to maximize your damage as much as you can.
When you see a target, open with either Fireball or Pyroblast and follow it with a charge of Fire Blast to score two stacks of Hot Streak right off the bat. You should use Pyroblast whenever these two stacks of Hot Streak are active, then reactive them with either Fire Blasts, Phoenix Flames, or Dragon’s Breath.
When you’ve run out of charges of these three abilities, pop Combustion to grant any of your spells a guaranteed crit. This will also cause your Fire Blasts and Phoenix Flames to have a 50 percent reduced cooldown. Upon popping Combustion, start with two Fireballs, then cycle between casting Pyroblast and Fire Blast for massive hits.
When your target is below 30 percent health, switch to casting Scorch. These fast spells serve to amplify your damage and land guaranteed crits while your target is low. Begin with three Scorches, then cycle between Pyroblast and Scorch until you’ve finished off your opponent.
Utility Tips
While the Fire Mage doesn’t have as much utility as the other Mage specializations, its kit cannot be underestimated. With the available talents, you have several spells to lock an enemy player in place while you either escape or deal damage from a safe distance.
- Keep Shimmer on a hotkey to teleport yourself away from enemy players while in the middle of casting your spells.
- Use Frost Nova whenever you get surrounded by melee attackers to freeze them and allow yourself time to get away.
- Dragon’s Breath not only grants you stacks of Hot Streak, but it also disorients melee opponents for four seconds.
- Ring of Frost is a great tool for when you need an escape. Plant it directly at your feet when enemies get too close, incapacitating them for ten seconds.
- Ice Block, when paired with Cryo-Freeze, is exceedingly important to heal you back to almost full health. Upon seeing Cauterize activate, use Ice Block to restore 80 percent of your health bar.
- Remember to cast Alter Time once you’ve come out of Ice Block. Upon recasting it, it will return you to the same position with the same amount of health as when you used it the first time.
- Counterspell should be used to interrupt any long casts and avoid unnecessary damage.
